The upcoming redstone update, otherwise known as Minecraft 1.5, is going to be a game changer. Get a drop on the changes and new blocks associated with the redstone update with this guide!

The redstone update is about making minecraft more complex, and whilst this might not please the casual player, many of these new additions to the game can be safely ignored. Where the redstone update will really come into its own will be in multiplayer servers, survival maps and adventure maps. The many new redstone blocks and mechanics mean that the player will be entering a whole new world, where opening a chest can trigger the spawning of a hostile mob and one redstone current can be mutiplied many times over, creating a chain of events linked to one action.(more…)

Biosphere Invasion is much more than some glass encased biomes floating in the depths of outer space, it is a minecraft adventure experience with custom mobs, shops, boss fights and even a coherent storyline told via command blocks. This is the minecraft adventure map of the future, the 1.4.6 adventure map of 2013.(more…)

A combination CTM Survival map, Catharsis is sort of the minecraft equivalent of The Phantom Tollbooth . Set in caverns measureless to man and named with deep and meaningful titles like ‘The Intersection of Despair’, and ‘Broken Beach’, this isn’t just another complete the monument map challenge. It’s a way to cleanse yourself and make yourself whole. Or something. One does not simply complete the monument, you see. What one does, is one ‘fills the Altar of Consciousness’.

This is actually a very enjoyable map. The locations are excellent and the map maker has done a fine job of taking the ‘catharsis’ theme and making it come to life in the many cavernous rooms the player finds him or herself in. The map is so large it almost counts as an adventure map, to be quite honest. It’s missing some elements of story, but there is a narrator that follows you throughout your journey and playing this map really does feel like going on a journey. Catharsis is definitely one of the Must Play Minecraft Maps for January 2013.

The invasion mod is the perfect mod for testing the strength and security of your stronghold and base designs. If spiders skittering up the walls and the occasional enderman teleporting into your base to steal your carpet doesn’t quite give you the sense of danger that you require in order to feel fulfilled in your minecraft life, then the Invasion Mod is the mod for you.

What Does The Invasion Mod Do?

Quite a lot.

Let’s start with the mobs. The normal mobs are scaled up to new tiers. A zombie now comes in two tiers, an almost normal zombie and a supercharged zombie which can upgrade its weaponry and all but gnaw through stone. Some zombies come in super flammable versions, being covered in tar on account of tar pits.

There’s also a siege mob, designed to test the strength of your walls. This mob will camp outside your nexus for all time.

The pig engineer. This mob won’t attack you, it will slowly and surely overcome all your defenses. It will build bridges and is capable of tunneling upwards. Which means your feet are no longer safe, because those supercharged zombies are coming in Mr Pig Engineer’s face.

This map contains several new blocks and items, including a nexus block, which is pretty much like building a temperamental self destruct mechanism capable of destroying every living thing in your base. That includes you, of course.

A whole new world of minecarts awaits us in the upcoming redstone update, in which you will, apparently, be able to place Spawners, TNT and Dispensers in minecarts.

This is going to be perfect both for natural world traps (as in, naturally generated pitfalls generated by the same world generator that failed to give us Herobrine, and for multiplayer servers, where you’ll never be able to trust a minecart rolling down the rails ever again.